The big issue is that, in many cases, that money simply WOULDN'T have been spent. Simply put, the rich don't get to be rich by spending all of their money, but the poor stay poor because they have to. The more wealth the rich are hoarding, the worse the economy is--the entire point of capitalism, and hell, the entire point of a market economy is that trade creates more value than hoarding.

Taxation doesn't have an inherently negative impact. People study these things and present the findings when proposing new government programs or adjusting the budget of existing government programs. Like I said above, every dollar spent on food stamps results in $1.64 getting put back into the economy. Every dollar spent on building new infrastructure or fixing broken infrastructure puts two bucks back into the economy. State-funded preschool programs see $11 put back into the economy for each dollar spent on them. And the Bush Tax Cuts? They put less than a dollar back into the economy for every dollar of revenue they removed.

Not all government programs are wasteful. MOST government programs AREN'T wasteful, from an economic standpoint. Assuming that most are is dangerous and leads to the kind of economy-crashing austerity traps I'm talking about. Government exists--and MUST exist--to provide these kinds of services that would otherwise go unprovided, or provided in dangerously exploitative ways, by the free market.

Probably the forced linking of his real name with his YouTube profile.

You think everyone wants to have their real name associated with their videos? Here's a great example: A YouTube atheist named Thunderf00t gets regular death threats from Islamic Extremists. You think he wants his real name out there?

Hey thanks for the links, I love hiking and backpacking but have only really had experience in the PNW and the Appalachian Trail. These look like some serious gorgeous spots. It never ceases to amaze me how diverse and beautiful the different natural environments of our country are.

Why do people think this is going to save them money? Cable companies will just jack up the prices and sell you your "a la cart" channels for the same amount you were previously paying for the whole package.

The same reason people though the affordable care act was going to provide them with free healthcare and doctor visits. No one reads this shit. Hell, the cable companies are most likely involved in this legislation.

Anti competitive business practices are equivalent to legal requirements, licenses, fees, classes, training imposed on new start up ventures. If you can get into a market without government intervention and provide a product or service cheaper and more efficiently than someone else there is no such thing as anti-competitive business practices.